Some Rellies and back to Bath

After doing Cambridge, Stratford, and Oxford on my own I spent some time with some relatives on my mum's side. First I went to my Granny's sister Kate's farm in Leicestershire. I helped with some lamb weighing and herded some sheep and cows. Their granddaughter (M), who is 6, was also staying with them at the time, so I spent quite a bit of time playing with my second cousin. After a couple days at the farm, we took M back home for school. Her house is near Cambridge (I know! Back again), so Kate and I spent the day there. I took a tour this time, so got to know a bit more about the actual colleges and the city itself.

Then I went to my Mum's cousin's house in Hampshire. They also have 2 little girls, so I spent time playing with them. While there I went to Jane Austen's house, which was pretty cool. It's not the house she grew up in, but the house she lived in with her mum and sister later in life. However, it is where she lived when all her books were published and she did much of her writing. There was also a castle about a 10 min walk from their house, just along the canal. I think castles are the coolest things. I just love how there are just castles randomly around the place, and especially ones like this that are not ostentatious. There is no sign pointing to it and no ticket booth or anything. Yes, there were fences around it, but nothing could really stop you going up and touching it, because, well, you could step over the fences. Anyways, this castle was built by King John (you know, the bad guy in Robin Hood) in the 1200's.

Jane Austen's House

Odiham Castle - King John's Castle

Next I spent a couple days in Bath. Now, yes, I know I went there before on my Cornwall Crusader tour, but I really liked the city and felt that there was more to see than the brief couple hours I spent there previously. I just really like the atmosphere in the city. It's very pretty, and at the moment, since it's summer, there were lots of musicians out in the evening. I loved just wandering around and people watching.

The Pump Rooms - think Jane Austen books

Bath Abbey

My dad is a fellow castle lover (maybe it's genetic?), and he told me about this awesome castle that he went to when he was 16 and staying in Bath. So, I took his advice and went to Chepstow Castle. It was really cool! Much of the castle is still intact, so you really get the feel for how big and magnificent it was. And, it was sunny out, so I couldn't have asked for a better day! 

Chepstow Castle

Chepstow Castle

After Bath, I made my way back to London. My first stop was my Dad's cousin's place on the outskirts. Luckily for me they live about 5 min from Hampton Court Palace, one of Henry VIII main palaces, and later during the Queen Anne half of it was renovated, but they ran out of money to do the whole thing. 

Hampton Court Palace

Next up: some volunteering at a Cathedral and the Olympics!

Rowleth End

As I mentioned previously, I did another HelpX stint at a B&B in the Yorkshire Dales.  Like Barnacre, I spent 2 weeks at Rowleth End. I really could not have asked for a better second placement. It was very different, but awesome nonetheless.

Firstly, the Yorkshire Dales has to be one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Even in the rain (which was most of the time), I thought the view from my window was amazing. Green hills, sheep, stone fences, the River Swale. And then, when the sun came out it was like nothing else.

Beautiful, eh?

One of the things I noticed most was the use of stone in buildings. I mean everything is built with stone – houses, sheds, fences etc. But when you look around it makes sense, there aren’t really a lot of trees. Anyways, throughout the Dales there are little villages of these stone houses, with very skinny roads in between them. Also, they’re not very far apart, only a few kilometres or so. It’s also not uncommon to come across a dilapidated stone building in the middle of a field, or on the side of the road.

Typical Yorkshire Village

As for the B&B itself, it was wonderful. Roger, the guy who runs it, is a very kind-hearted man. He let us keep all tips, let us drink whatever we wanted, buy any food we wanted/needed, and if we ever went out, he’d pay for everything. He took us out quite often too – to see the Olympic Torch in Richmond (yes, I’ve seen it twice now!), to get cheese from Wensleydale, and to the highest pub in Britain

The torch in Richmond

Yes, this is where Wensleydale cheese comes from

Tan Hill, the highest pub in Britain

There are only 5 bedrooms at Rowleth, so not too much work. I slept in a trailer in the garden, which was super comfy and warm – we even had a tv and internet. Anyways, I didn’t have to be up at the house until 9am, which is when I ate breakfast and we waited for the guests to finish so that we could start cleaning. In the morning we’d clear the breakfast tables, put the dishes in the dishwasher and put them away, vacuum, clean the kitchen and do the rooms of course. Sometimes we had extra jobs, but not often and they wouldn’t be hard. There were 3 other girls, Sophie from Germany, Ailsa from Taiwan, and Jade from Hong Kong. Usually it didn’t take us too long to finish.

After the morning work was done, we were free until 7pm when we had to help serve dinner, and then clean up afterwards. During free time I did various things. Sometimes I went for a walk with Buster the dog, watched movies, made Canadian dishes (Butter tarts, Nanaimo Bars, and Poutine), or took a nap. After dinner was finished, we often all watched a movie together

Going for a walk with Buster

Some steers giving us the stare down

Buster

The two weeks spent with Roger and the other girls went by way too quickly. I had a great time, and had lots of laughs.

Chester

Sorry everyone, I seem to be slacking on the blog front. But that's because I'm so busy all the time!
I am at the farm now, and I have been for just over a week. It's in the small town of Saughall Massie, and is called Barnacre. It's not too far by train from Liverpool or Chester though.
I'm going to give you a full update on the farm once I leave - specific things that I've been doing, and how the place runs. I know that probably seems like an an empty promise.... sorry!

Anyways! Sailing with my relatives was definitely amazing. Also, they keep their boat in Wales, so I got to drive through Wales for quite awhile. It's a beautiful area of the UK. And we went a more roundabout way home so that I could see more of the area - including Snowdonia National Park. Another thing about Wales, is that all the signs are in Welsh and English. It looks like gibberish...but it's cool that they're trying to keep their culture alive!

My relatives also took me to the Roman city of Chester. It was a race day (horse racing) so the town was really busy. Originally, the whole city was walled, but obviously now it has grown!

Clock on the Wall

View of the Town Centre from the Wall

Old Roman Garden

The day after Chester, I came to the farm. I knew that my relatives and the farm were both near Liverpool, but I didn't know how close to each other they were. Turns out they were about 10 min away from each other! So, luckily for me my Aunt and Uncle were able to drive me here!

Somehow I managed to arrive the day before two days off =)

The first day a couple of other helpers and I took the train to Liverpool, we wandered around a bit and went to two museums (FREE, just like in London). The next day we went to Chester - again. But this time we went because the Olympic Torch was going through! Both days were nice and sunny which was lovely. We followed the crowds of people to a nice park, while we waited for the torch.

Me and some other helpers at the farm

The Torch - another torch came through first, and we were really confused. We didn't know if it was the real thing or not - turns out it wasn't!

Chester Cathedral

Random Teacup Carving

Some Locks

Jody caught a duckling

Playing cards while waiting for a train on the way home

And that's basically what I did until the farm work started! But as I said, I'll give a better update on that on the weekend!

London Activities

Time to update on what I've been doing since my tour finished.
I spent two days on the outskirts of London, not doing much. Just caught up on emails, this blog, and sleep!
Then I went into London last Sunday afternoon for three nights, and 2 full days. On Monday I went to the BUNAC centre to scan some things and pick up my UK sim card which came in the mail. Speaking of which, you can send me mail!

Anna Matthews
16 Bowling Green Lane
London, United Kingdom
EC1R 0QH

I might not get it instantaneously, because I'll have to be in London to pick it up, but I will be in London again eventually!

After going to the BUNAC centre, I went to the British Museum. Besides all the amazing things that the British Museum contains, the fact that makes it even better is that it's FREE! Almost all of the Museums in London are free, and that includes all the big ones. Victoria and Albert, Museum of London, Science Museum, Museum of Natural History etc.

British Museum

A Human Headed Winged Lion, which came from a Palace in Mesopotamia

The Rosetta Stone!

An Egyptian Mummy

What the London 2012 Medals are going to look like

Also on Monday I went to see Billy Elliot! I went to the box office in the morning and picked up some Day Tickets, for only £19.50! I was in the very front row, but really I didn't miss anything. The kid who played Billy was brilliant, he definitely has an amazing future in front of him! But really, the whole production was amazing!

On Tuesday the sun came out, and has stayed since then! It's been wonderful. Anyways, Tuesday morning I went on a "Beatles Walking Tour". For a Beatles fan like myself, it was really cool. And there definitely was a good range of people on the walk, from old Hippies, to younger kids, to people from Japan. 

The Registry Office where Paul married Linda, and Ringo married Barbara

34 Monagu Square - An apartment that Ringo owned, but Jimi Hendrix lived here at one point, and John lived here with Yoko later

The site of the Beatles first commercial venture, the Apple Boutique on Baker St.

This is what it looked like back when the Beatles ran it!

57 Wimpole St - The Asher Family home, where Paul lived with Jane Asher, and he wrote Yesterday in the basement

Abbey Road Studios

I added my name to the legions of other Beatles fans who've signed outside of the studios

Abbey Road Crossing!

After the tour I found a park by Thames to eat lunch in the sunshine. And then in the evening I went to Wicked! Again I went to the box office in the morning, and this time I got a student discount. I got a seat worth £62.50 for £27.50, less than half price! One of the best seats in the house. And of course, the show was amazing!

I did have some adventures in my hostel, but they were not the hostels fault. I was in a room with a bunch of Spanish Boys who decided that coming in at 1am and turning on the light and being noisy for an hour was an appropriate thing to do. Not impressed. Ah well.

Now, however, I'm staying with my Mum's Aunt and Uncle on the Wirral Peninsula. They've been wonderfully kind to me, and we're going sailing on their boat tomorrow, which I'm very excited for! I'm heading to a farm nearby on Sunday, and I'll be there for 2 weeks. So my next update will be from there most likely!

Sight Seeing and New Plans

First off, I want to say Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful, wonderful, and amazing Mum! I love her dearly, and miss her lots.

On to England stuff!

I've been here just under a week now, and have done quite a few London things! I have got a handle on the tube (which is actually quite easy), but it does have some things that need to be fixed.. Every single day I've been here, some part of the line is down because of something or other, usually a signal failure. AND it is the most expensive transport system. Granted I was way out of central London, but still.. I shouldn't have to pay 20 dollars for off peak times! (30 during peak hours..)

Anyways, my first full day I went out to the Tower of London. I've been dreaming of going there for years, so it was really cool to be there. It's where Anne Boleyn was beheaded and buried, and Queen Elizabeth I was imprisoned when she was still a Princess, it was a palace at one point, and it's where the crown jewels are kept.

Tower of London

Beafeater 

Traitor's Gate

Norman Toilet

The next day I went to Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and Piccadilly Circus - just to see it, not to shop. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures inside the Abbey. It was pretty cool to see the tombs of royalty and other famous people (Queen Elizabeth I, Chaucer, Handel - just to name a few), but what I didn't realize was how many other people are buried there too. I mean, there are dead people everywhere! You can't walk anywhere without stepping on someone..

Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace

Piccadilly Circus

On Friday I went to my SWAP orientation and Kensington Palace - sorry there are no pictures of that. But it was pretty interesting to see where Queen Victoria grew up. The Palace had a whole section on her of course, everything from toys, to her wedding gown. She and Albert were pretty cute, I have to say.

I have come across some other iconic London sites as well!

Tower Bridge

Big Ben and me

London Eye

Quick story about this: I was asked by two East Indian Guys to take a picture of them in front of the London Eye. After I did, they wanted to take pictures with me.. They don't know my name, or where I'm from, but they have pictures of me. Very odd..

Hanging out with Churchill

A Palace guard with a crooked hat

Also, I have made a departure from my earlier plans. I'm not longer going to try and find a job and work in London. Rent is astronomical here (like 110 pounds a week), and I would only get paid about 5 pounds an hour. I really don't want to work all the time and that's it. I'd rather see the country. Also, my possible Olympic job fell through..they overestimated the amount of workers they would need. Oh well. My plan now, is to do some work in exchange for room/board through www.helpx.net. So far I've got a response from one host so I've already got one place to go! I think in between hosts, I'll be visiting relatives. I also might try and do a stint at a hostel somewhere, working reception and such like for a room.

However, before that, I'm going to be doing a tour of Cornwall, with a tour group called HaggisAdventures. I leave tomorrow! It looks like it should be a lot of fun, plus I'll get to meet some fellow travellers! So, since I have an early start tomorrow, I'm off to stay in a hostel in central london tonight. I'm excited!